Queso Recipe
Posted Apr 29, 2026
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This homemade queso recipe is creamy, flavorful, and so much more delicious than store-bought queso. It’s easy to make the best queso dip you’ve ever had in one pot in 15 minutes flat!
I love the queso from our favorite Mexican restaurant, so I created this homemade queso dip that is even better than our favorite dining spot!
Made with two forms of cheese, bold spices, and green chiles, this delicious queso recipe is so easy to make in mere minutes, meaning you can have better-than-restaurant queso on the table in no time.
Serve it warm with tortilla chips, drizzle it over nachos, or spoon it onto tacos and burritos. Once you try this easy queso recipe, you’ll never go back to store-bought!
Queso Dip Ingredients & Substitutions
This queso recipe is best made as-is, but we’ll discuss some possible substitutions.
- Salted butter. Unsalted butter works well.
- Evaporated milk. You can substitute evaporated milk with heavy cream or half and half.
- Cheddar cheese. Use a block of cheese that you grate yourself for the best results.
- White American cheese. Get this from the deli counter at your local grocery store.
- Green chiles. Use mild or spicy depending on your preferences.
- To make it spicy: Add ¼ to ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, or add diced jalapeño pepper to the onion while cooking.
How to Make Queso Dip
Let’s walk through this recipe together step-by-step, and don’t forget to watch the video for additional guidance.
Begin by cooking the onion, butter, and garlic together until the onion is soft – this takes about 5 minutes. NOTE: if you want to incorporate diced jalapeño, add it during this step and cook it with the onion.
Then add the evaporated milk and cheeses to the cooked onions.
Cook over medium-low heat until the cheese is melted, whisking constantly. Be very careful not to heat the cheese too fast. They key to silky smooth queso is taking your time to melt the cheese over medium-low or even low heat.
Once the cheese is melted and the sauce is smooth, add the spices and chiles.
Then, cook the queso for 3-5 minutes until the sauce begins to thicken (it will thinly coat a spoon).
Once it is starting to thicken, remove the queso from the heat and let it cool slightly. It thickens a lot as it cools.
Serve
Then, serve it warm with your favorite tortilla chips. I personally could eat chips and queso as a meal all by itself I love it so much! You could garnish it with some cilantro or peppers, or just dig right in.
You can also use it to make the most delicious nachos or drizzle it on your favorite Mexican recipes.
Store/Freeze
Store leftover queso in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 1 month. It will become very thick when stored in the fridge, but it thins out well when reheated in the microwave or on the stovetop.
Queso Dip Recipe FAQS
The combination of cheddar and white American cheese is the best. You can use other cheeses like monterey jack, pepper jack, etc.
This happens when you melt the cheese too fast using too-high heat. Cook the queso over medium-low or low heat and whisk constantly.
Usually all you have to do is reheat your queso if it starts to thicken too much. You can add milk or cream too if it’s really super thick.
You can add sausage and cook it with the onion for extra flavor. You can also add extra spices.
If you make and love my recipes, it would mean so much to me if you would leave a comment and rating! And don’t forget to follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, TikTok and Youtube – be sure to tag @joyfoodsunshine and use the hashtag #joyfoodsunshine so I can see your creations!
Best Queso Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons salted butter
- ½ cup onion finely diced
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 12 ounces evaporated milk
- 2 cups cheddar cheese
- 4 ounces white American cheese (about 6 slices)
- 4 ounces diced green chilies (drained)
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Cook butter, onion and minced garlic in a thick-bottom saucepan over medium heat until the onion is soft, about 3-5 minutes.
- Then add the evaporated milk, cheddar cheese and white America cheese and cook over medium-low heat until melted, whisking often.
- Once the cheese is melted, add the drained green chiles, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper.
- Whisk to combine, then cook for 3-5 minutes until the sauce begins to thicken (it will coat a spoon thinly).
- Remove from heat and let cool slightly to thicken more (it thickens a ton as it cools).
- Serve warm with chips!
Notes
- Salted butter. unsalted butter works well.
- Evaporated milk. you can substitute evaporated milk with heavy cream or half and half.
- Cheddar cheese. use a block of cheese that you grate yourself for the best results.
- White American cheese. Get this from the deli counter at your local grocery store.
- Green chiles. use mild or spicy depending on your preferences.
- To make it spicy: add ¼ to ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, or add diced jalapeño pepper to the onion while cooking.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
